Swedish Magazine

Q: The papers wrote a few years ago about an argument between you and the swedish producer Max Martin. What was that about?
JBJ: He co-wrote "It?s my life" and got pissed-off when he didn?t get to produce the song. But he called me up a few months later and said "you were right, you?re mix was good". Max Martin is an incredible talented guy, we were never enemies, but back then we weren?t friends either. But we spent some time together when he lived in New York some year ago, and now we?re close friends.

Q: Are you going to work with more swedish producers?
JBJ: We worked with Andreas Carlsson on our last album and Max Martin has done a song on the new one. They?re from the same school where they?ve learned a whole new way of producing records. They?re very good and I would love to work with either of them again in the future.

Q: Bon Jovi?s fifht member, the basist Hugh McDonald, joined the band eleven years ago but still doesn?t count as an official member. Is he too ugly?
TT: Haha, definately not, it?s an awesome guy. But the four of us had been through so much during ten years before Hugh joined the band. And it actually took 14-15 years before Ron Wood became a real member in Rolling Stones.

Q: Have you ever gotten into a fistfight with each other?
RS: We?ve punched each other a few times, but there has never been any serious fighting.

Q: Jon, you have another career as an actor. What is your dream-role?
JBJ: I like drama more than comedys. What?s that with Jack Nicholson and Tom Cruise? That?s right, Pa heder och samvete. (That?s the swedish translation! Can?t seem to remember the original title right now.) To play a lawyer like that would have been fun and I should have managed it easily. Unfortunately, I don?t spend enough time on Hollywood so my movie-career hasn?t been quite that succesfull that I?ve hoped.

Q: You campaigned against George Bush before the latest election. Are you disappointed at the politicians in the USA?
JBJ: The system has crashed down. That is the bitter reality. I was a huge Clinton-fan, we had a great system back then. But I won?t say too much, even though I don?t support the Bush-administration, I love my country.

Q: Why have you become so political?
JBJ: We started to get socially aware in the beginning of the 90?s. I wanted to use the fact that I?m a celebrity to change things to the better. T live the kliche rock ?n roll-life works fine for some people, but I?ve never been one of them. I prefer to play at the Katrina charity-event and write a check of one million dollars to the victims.

Q: Why have Bon Jovi never been as rockstar-crazy as for example Motley Crue?
RS: Because the music has been our lifestyle and that is what we have cared about. We?ve never attended the stage stoned, drunk or too late. We respect ourselves and the music too much. People pay too se us play for fuck sake!

Q: A few years ago, you spent 15 000 dollar at the stripclub Spearmint Rino in London. Is this a normal bill at a stripclub?
RS: Yeah, sometimes it?s even more. But it?s not our own money we spend, you know, it?s the record company?s, haha!

Q: Where in the world can you find the best stripclubs?
TT: Vancouver! The stripclubs there is close to my heart. When we recorde Slippery when wet, there was a place where we always ate breakfast, lunch and dinner. I remember they had amazing chickenwings and beautiful girls.

Q: What kind of cars do you drive?
RS: We always have someone to drive us.
DB: What a fucking asshole-answer.
RS: I have a lot of cars, but the Ferrari is my favourite.
DB: I like Porsche.

Q: What would you have done if you haven?t become musicians?
RS: I would have worked at a bank!
TT: I?ve always wanted to be Hugh Hefner.
DB: Plasticsurgent - 'cause I love tits and ass.

Q: Wuld you make a eurodisco-album if you knew that it would sell 50 million copies?
RS: No, not a chance.
DB: Yes! If i knew it would sell 50 million copies, I would quit the band and make a soloalbum instead.

Q: Richie, according to the site groupiedirt.com, you?re able to perform oralsex for hours and your rhytm is great.
RS: How flattering. It?s totally correct and dude, I am married to Heather Locklear!

Q: How do you stay at the top of the musicbusiness for over two decades?
JBJ: The truth is that it has been up and down. But it?s all about the fact that we?ve been honest to ourselves and to our fans and allowed each other to two other things. Between 83 and 90 we lived in suitcases and spent every minute together. Eventually I noticed that we had nothing to talk about whatsoever. But then, we gace each other more freedom and some of us made solorecords. Even more should do that, I have seen many great bands be destroyed just because the members weren?t allowed to do other things. Eddie Van Halen should have done a solorecord, and Steven Tyler should also do an own record, for example. I think it?s good for the band.

Q: When you played in Stockholm 2001 you told Aftonbladet (that would be the biggest newspaper in Sweden) that the swedish crowd were disloyal. Why?
JBJ: I did? Yeah, but the swedish crowd haven?t been that supportive, have they? Haha. I think I meant it like this: In, amongst others, Germany we sell out big arenas easily, anytime. But in Sweden we got to play at a smaller place, What?s it called? It was not the Globe, not Ullevi...

Q: You played at Stockholms Stadium (it?s called Olympic Stadium internationally), a quite large arena.
JBJ: Are you sure? I don?t think so.

Q: I?m definately sure.
JBJ: I will look it up.